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Overview

Since 2005, Google has run an awesome open source software development program, called the Google Summer of Code (GSoC), which specifically targets students. Under this program, Google funds students to write code for open source projects during the northern hemisphere's summer timeframe. TARDIS, a scientific code to study exploding stars, participates in this program to get young minds engaged in scientific software development. The process is as follows:

The student writes a project proposal for TARDIS.

Sometimes their project idea caters to something that the TARDIS collaboration suggests and sometimes it's an idea entirely of the student's conception.

Proposals are reviewed, evaluated, and ranked by the TARDIS collaboration.

Google allocates a certain number of slots to each participating organization

That, in turn, determines how many student developers work with the TARDIS collaboration.

This page will help you to familiarize yourself with GSoC, the TARDIS collaboration and provides a guideline for applications.

Accepted projects for GSoC 2016

These were the projects that we selected for GSoC 2016 and can serve as a reference for future proposals:

TARDIS GSoC 2017 Ideas Page

We have compiled some background information about TARDIS and the science we do with it as well as some of our suggested projects for GSoC 2017 on the Ideas Page.

You are also welcome to come up with your own project ideas and discuss them with the TARDIS mentors. We're here to help you become new open source developers, so don't be shy if you have any questions. The best way to get in contact is to chat with us on Gitter. Our mailing list, tardis-sn-gsoc2017@googlegroups.com, is only for announcements from the TARDIS collaboration.

The Selection Process

GSoC is about getting people involved and contributing to open source over the long-term. As such, we heavily weight our application selection process towards students that are interested in remaining involved in TARDIS and open source software development long after GSoC has ended.

GSoC is not a job! If you think this is just a summer job, then GSoC is probably not for you. It's only like a job in terms of planning your time commitment over the summer.

Additionally, submissions are graded based on perception of the submitter's abilities to complete the task within the program timeframe, general consensus on the technical approach being proposed, and overall interest in having such modifications made to TARDIS-SN. Particular notice is made of students that are responsive to questions and readily interactive in the gitter channel. Communication is a great thing!

Just about every GSoC organization receives considerably more project proposals than can be accepted. Every application gets read multiple times and reviewed in detail. Of those applications, only a small subset are selected, so keep in mind that the selection process is rather competitive and difficult.

Whether or not you are accepted, contributing to open source outside of GSoC is one of the main goals of the program and is the best way to be noticed and get your proposal accepted. Keep that in mind. Thanks for your interest and we look forward to working with new TARDIS-SN developers!